Four yearlong fellowships of $72,000 each, writing space at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City, access to research facilities, and research assistance from a graduate...
read moreWriting Contests, Grants & Awards
The Writing Contests, Grants & Awards database includes details about the creative writing contests—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, and more—that we’ve published in Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it. Ours is the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.
Leon Levy Center for Biography
Cash Prize: $72,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 1/4/26
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
San José State University
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 1/4/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Six yearlong residencies at San José State University in San José, California, which include stipends of $15,000 each, are given annually to fiction writers and creative...
read moreFlorida Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/7/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000, publication by the Florida Review, and 50 author copies is given annually for a chapbook of short fiction, short nonfiction, or graphic narrative....
read moreNew Literary Project
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 1/9/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Up to ten fellowships of $5,000 each are given annually to creative writers who are high school teachers to support summer work on an ongoing fiction, creative nonfiction,...
read moreWinter Anthology
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $11
Application Deadline: 1/10/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Winter Anthology is given annually for a group of poems, a short story, a novel excerpt, or an essay. Srikanth Reddy will judge....
read moreFrench-American Foundation
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 1/12/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation
Two prizes of $10,000 each are given annually for translations from French into English of a book of fiction and a book of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction) published...
read moreWOMR/WFMR Community Radio
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 1/12/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a single poem. Marge Piercy will judge. Submit up to five poems of no more than two pages each with a $15 entry fee by January 12. Visit...
read moreColorado Review
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/14/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $2,500 and publication by the Center for Literary Publishing is given annually for a poetry collection. Victoria Chang will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 100...
read moreVirginia Commonwealth University
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to give a reading at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond is given annually for a first or second book of poetry...
read moreGeorgia Review
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Georgia Review is given annually for a short story or an essay. Kiese Laymon will judge. Submit a story or essay of up to 9,000...
read morePoetry Society of Virginia
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $36
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published during the current year. The winner is also invited to read at the Poetry Society of Virginia’s annual...
read moreNorth Carolina Writers’ Network
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $12
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for an essay “that is outside the realm of conventional journalism and has relevance to North Carolinians.” The winning essay is also...
read moreArts + Literature Laboratory
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,000 each and a five-day stay at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of...
read moreRed Hen Press
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $5,000 and publication by Red Hen Press is given annually for a story collection, a novella, a novel, or other book-length work of fiction. Using only the online...
read morePassager Books
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $2,000 and publication by Passager Books is given biennially for a first book of poems by a writer who is 70 years old or older. Submit a manuscript of 50 to 65...
read moreLongleaf Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000, publication by Longleaf Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner is also invited to give a virtual reading in early...
read moreEllen Meloy Fund
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $5,000 is given annually to enable a creative nonfiction writer “whose work reflects the spirit and passions for the desert embodied in Ellen Meloy’s writing” to...
read moreNew American Press
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,500, publication by New American Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Rick Barot will judge. Writers of any citizenship working...
read moreAsheville Poetry Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Asheville Poetry Review is given annually for a single poem. The winner is also invited to give a reading at Malaprop’s Bookstore...
read moreLit Fox Books
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 1/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,500, publication by Lit Fox Books, and 25 author copies will be given annually for a poetry collection. Kristina Marie Darling will judge. Using only the online...
read moreNorth Carolina Writers’ Network
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/30/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Thomas Wolfe Review is given annually for a short story or a self-contained novel excerpt. Karen Tucker will judge. Submit a work...
read moreStanford University Libraries
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $50
Application Deadline: 1/30/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two prizes of $5,000 each are given biennially for books of fiction and nonfiction published in the previous two years. The awards, cosponsored by the Stanford University...
read moreswamp pink
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $2,000 each and publication in swamp pink are given annually for a single poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the online submission system,...
read morePrairie Heritage, Inc.
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a published poetry collection, book of fiction, or book of creative nonfiction that “illuminates the heritage of North America’s mid-...
read morePEN America
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 1/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Nine fellowships of $1,500 each and participation in a virtual five-month mentorship program, which includes one-on-one mentorship with an established writer; introductions to...
read more